The Obituary Exercise: Writing Your Life Backwards
The most successful people don't plan forward—they plan backward from their death.
Most people drift through life reacting to whatever comes next, never questioning if their daily choices align with what actually matters to them long-term.
The Tactic: Write your own obituary as if you died at 85, then reverse-engineer your life to match it.
Why It Works: Research from UCLA's Center for Everyday Lives found that people who engage in "legacy thinking" make decisions 34% more aligned with their stated values. The obituary exercise forces you to confront the gap between who you are and who you want to be remembered as. It's mortality salience without the morbidity—using death as a compass for life.
How To Do It:
Expected Result: Immediate clarity on what you're optimizing for. Most people discover they're spending 80% of their time on things that won't matter in their obituary. The exercise doesn't just reveal priorities—it creates urgency around them.
Dr. Hal Hershfield's research at UCLA shows that people who vividly imagine their future selves make better long-term decisions and report 23% higher life satisfaction. The obituary exercise is future-self visualization on steroids.
Warning: This will be uncomfortable. Good. Comfort is the enemy of intentional living.
Key Takeaways
- 1.Your obituary reveals the gap between current actions and desired legacy
- 2.Legacy thinking improves decision-making alignment by 34%
- 3.Most people spend 80% of time on things that won't matter at their funeral
Your Primary Action
Write your obituary right now. Don't overthink it—set a timer and write what you hope people would say about your life, then identify the top 3 themes.
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